


I Met Him In The Corn

by upset_and_confused



Category: Star Trek
Genre: ADHD Jim, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Amanda loves her son, Autism Spectrum, Autistic Bones, Autistic Spock, Bullying, Flirting, Halloween, M/M, Scare Farm, Smoking, light homophobia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:41:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27048865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/upset_and_confused/pseuds/upset_and_confused
Summary: On a crisp fall night sometime in the 90's a young man named Spock is shoved to the ground of a scare farm's haunted barn by a group of boys who were supposed to be his friends. Humiliated and ashamed he plans to slump back the nearest pay phone and ask his sister to come pick him up. A performer dressed as a skeleton with gentle hands and a soft voice has other plans.
Relationships: Leonard "Bones" McCoy/Spock
Comments: 11
Kudos: 69





	I Met Him In The Corn

**Author's Note:**

> I don't actually know if I am happy with this but this is an AU I have wanted to write for years now and I am happy I am finally doing it.

“Let me look at you.” 

“You are looking at me, mother.” 

Amanda Grayson raised an eyebrow and Spock resisted a smile as he walked toward her. She looked him over, his sharp makeup, his all black outfit complete with a long coat that looked a bit like a cape when he moved quickly. She reached up to smooth his hair and smiled. 

“You look very handsome, Spock.” 

“I appreciate your approval, mother.” 

Amanda chuckled and placed a light kiss on his cheek, careful not to smudge any of his make up. “When can we expect you home tonight?” Spock knew she was asking simply to hear him say ‘I don’t know’. She had been wanting her youngest son to ‘have fun’ in the same ways his older brother and sister did. Spock was different, she knew that, but aren’t all teens supposed to go out and have fun and get in trouble? 

“I am not sure when I will be home, mother,” Spock said, mirroring the smile she gave him. “I can only tell you to ‘not wait up’.” He had heard both Michael and Sybok say it and had never once seen his mother smile at them the way she smiled at him. He was still not sure if he felt excited to go to this ‘scare farm’, but he was happy to see his mother so happy, and who knew? Maybe it would be fun. 

Spock let out a surprised yell, jumping toward the pack of boys as the skeleton twitched up onto its feet and lurched toward them.

“You wanna bone?” one of the guys in the group yelled. “Here, take the weirdo, he likes it!” 

And all of a sudden Spock felt hands on his back and he was pitching forward. His hands scrambled out to stop himself from falling face first onto the hay-covered floor. Behind him, he heard the group of boys cackling and running. Someone yelled ‘freak’ over their shoulder as they ran through the barn. 

Ah. 

Before Spock could decide if he wanted to debase himself enough to cry, the skeleton popped up and roared; 

“Hey assholes!” 

The pack of boys were already far down the hall, and Spock sat in confusion as the skeleton looked between him and the kids that had run off. It was almost as if the skeleton was trying to decide what to do. Finally, they sighed and crouched down. 

“That was real shitty of them, kid, are you hurt?” The skeleton gently took his hands and turned them over to inspect the scratches that he had incurred from the fall. 

Spock opened his mouth to say he was fine when the sound of people coming into the room caught the skeleton’s attention. They looked between Spock and the entrance and then smiled in a way that didn’t look quite as ghoulish as it had when Spock first saw it.

“Wanna scare some kids?” 

Spock did not but he ended up pressed chest to chest in an upright coffin with the skeleton. 

“So what is the plan?” Spock asked quietly. 

The skeleton probably raised their eyebrows- between the darkness and the face paint it was hard to tell- but Spock was pretty sure that was what had happened. “Well, I was planning on having you hunker down in here while I earned my ten an hour until I’m off and then I would patch up your hands and offer you a ride home.” 

Spock frowned but was stopped from responding when the skeleton held up their hand and then, with all the grace of a rag doll, fell into a heap in front of the gaggle of teens who were passing by. The pack of them screamed as the skeleton rolled brokenly over and jerked into a standing position, smiling a wicked smile and lunged at the running, screaming group of kids. 

The skeleton threw back their head and didn’t so much laugh as cackled before their manic smile dropped to a much more relaxed one. Spock excused his watching for simple interest in this person who was being confusingly kind to him as they carefully clambered back into the coffin, once again chest-to-chest with Spock.

“You are quite frightening,” Spock informed them. 

“Awe shucks.” The skeleton smiled. “Oh, uh, hey legally I’m not allowed to touch ya, like grab ya or anything, so…” 

Spock tilted his head in confusion. 

“Just,” the skeleton laughed a little nervously, “promise not to sue me for this.” 

Spock’s brow furrowed. “Why would I sue you for helping me?” 

“I don’t think ya would, I’m just askin’ ya not to!” 

“Well if you--”

Spock stopped mid sentence as another group of patrons entered the room and the skeleton repeated their performance. 

“You appear to only have the one tactic you employ for frightening guests,” Spock said as the skeleton climbed back in. 

“Are you backseat scarin’?” they asked- again, Spock was reasonably sure they were raising their eyebrow. 

“I simply think you should employ a variety of methods in your work.” 

“It worked on you, didn’t it?” 

Spock felt a flush on his cheeks and clasped his hands behind his back, before hissing at the sting. 

“Yeah, see, you argue and that’s what happens, lemme look.” 

Spock relinquished his hands to the skeleton who held them gently. “Correlation does not equal causation,” Spock muttered. 

The skeleton smiled. “Alright smart ass.” Spock was aware the scrapes were not at all bad, but he was finding he rather liked the skeleton’s touch. “Nothin’ too bad, should have something to clean it up in the break room. Do you, uh…” Spock watched as the skeleton’s face fell a little bit. “Shit this was a bad plan, you probably need to get home soon, huh?” 

“My parents do not expect me home for several more hours as I, until recently, had plans to be spending time with the…” Spock looked down at his hand, still in the tender hold of the skeleton, “friends I came here with.”

“Well shit..” The skeleton looked up and Spock did not meet their eyes because he was well aware of how foolish and pitiful he would look. “Well shit, kid, it’s-- hey, I’m workin’ for another few hours and then I’ll drive you home, yeah?” 

Spock kept his eyes on his hands and thought about the boys he had come here with. He was foolish for thinking he could fit in with them. It was ridiculous that they would like him. 

“Kid?” 

Spock took a deep breath, “I can call for my parents or my siblings to come get me. I do not wish to be a bother.” 

“Y’ain’t a bother,” the skeleton countered and for just a moment Spock was taken aback by the atrocious contraction. The skeleton smiled at him. “I’ll take you to a phone if you want but it’s really not a problem.” 

Spock looked at this strange person: their entire face covered in skeleton makeup that glowed in the black light, their eyes hidden behind opaque white contacts, even their hair was covered by a black skull cap... he had no idea what this person looked like, much less why he should trust them to take him home. But… hadn’t his mother specifically told him to have a fun night? Wasn’t she the one who was telling him he needed adventure and experiences in his life, to not just stay home behind his books? Well. Being taken home by a person dressed as a skeleton certainly seemed like an experience and perhaps Spock should take it. 

“I… yes, I believe that would be acceptable.” 

The skeleton laughed; not a cackle, but a nice warm laugh. Spock found he rather liked the laugh. “Acceptable,” they said. “Well alright, I’m Leonard, by the way.” 

“It is good to meet you, Leonard. I am Spock.” 

Leonard hummed and then stopped. The sounds of approaching guests echoed down the hall as Spock watched Leonard smile and fall backwards out of the coffin, sprawling on the ground and twitching. 

The guests screamed and ran around him as he sprung to life and jerked his body around in an aborted attempt to chase them. Spock had to admit that on some level it was very fun to watch. He scooted over and let Leonard tuck back into the coffin, watching as he rolled his shoulder. “You are injuring yourself?” 

“Oh this?” Leonard asked, gesturing to his shoulder. “Nah, well, not too bad, I know how to roll to keep from hitting it too bad.” 

“Why fall at all?” 

Leonard shrugged “Part of the character,” he said. “If you don’t like this you’d hate to see Jim doing his tumble routine.” 

Spock did not know this ‘Jim’ or what his ‘tumble routine’ was but if it was another act that inflicted pain then yes, he was quite sure he would not like it.

“I’m a doctor though-- well,” the skeleton rolled his shoulder again and Spock was beginning to wonder if it was more of a tick than a reaction to pain, “I’m studying to be a doctor, so I know what I’m talkin’ about for the most part.” 

“May I ask a question?” 

“Y’already did.” 

Spock blinked and started to counter but Leonard was smiling and Spock did not resist the urge to roll his eyes. 

“That joke is not funny.” 

“You just don’t got no sense of humor.” 

“As you are employing a double negative, I must assume that you are saying I do, in fact, have a sense of humor.” 

Leonard barked a delighted laugh and Spock couldn’t stop himself from smiling. “Lord but you’re annoying, Jim is gonna love you.” He was still smiling and Spock was noticing more and more that he quite liked the smile, even with all the makeup. “I stopped ya, what were you gonna ask?” 

“Ah, what is a doctor-in-training doing working at a haunted corn maze?” 

Leonard shrugged, “Payin’ rent mostly, Jim and I make nearly a whole six month’s worth of rent working here durin’ the fall.” 

“Is Jim your spouse?” Spock asked. 

The laugh that Leonard loosed was loud enough Spock was sure that the people in line in the front would hear it. “Married to Jim?” he asked with another burst of laughter. “Lord,  _ Christ,  _ no!” He hung his head, lightly bumping against Spock’s shoulder as he did. “Jesus, no, kid, we tried it once but, he and I are not for each other like that. Don’t get me wrong,” he leaned back against the wall of the coffin, “I love Jim to hell and back but he’s a horrible boyfriend.” 

Spock nodded, digesting that bit of information and not entirely sure why it mattered to him that Leonard was interested in men. 

“So what about you?” 

Spock raised an eyebrow. “I am also unmarried.” 

It was incredible to watch two perfectly opaque eyes execute such an expressive eye roll.

“Yeah, you and Jim will get along just fine. I mean the farm, Spock. What, other than some shitty friends, brings you here?” 

“It is the Halloween season,” Spock replied, looking at a spot in the dark as he mumbled, “one is expected to participate in such activities.” 

“No offense, but costume aside you don’t strike me as a person who enjoys ‘such activities’.” 

Leonard adjusted himself so his arms were stretched out on either side of Spock. It suddenly occurred to Spock that this space was very small and he was intruding on Leonard’s job but his space as well. The man had told him at the beginning of the night it wasn’t an issue but surely he had been lying to save Spock’s feelings. He was almost certainly as unwelcome here as he was with his friend and he should probably leave before he inconvenienced Leonard anymore. “I am bothering you, I will leave.” 

“Where the hell did you get that from?” Leonard asked with a laugh. “Come on, I already told ya before, this ain’t a bother. Trust me, Spock, I’d say something. I’ve been told I’m very direct, which is a nice way of saying ‘mean’.”

“I fail to see how being direct could be interpreted as ‘mean’,” Spock replied. 

“To be honest I don’t get it either, guess it’s a wiring issue,” Leonard said while tapping his head. “Get told I’m too emotional too. Can’t win for caring, I guess…” He smiled, Spock thought the smile looked a bit like the one Leonard had given when he asked Spock not to sue him, like maybe he had done something wrong. Then he shook his head and the look disappeared, “Now stop distractin’ me, come on.” He squeezed Spock’s arm. “What’s a guy like you doin’ in a coffin like this?” 

Spock watched Leonard’s opaque eyes and thought about what he had said. Spock wasn’t quite sure if it meant what he hoped it did, but... perhaps their wires were crossed similarly. “I have,” he started, trying to find a way to make this sound marginally less embarrassing than he had been told it was, “a difficult time fitting in with my peers, as you can no doubt tell from my speech patterns, I am not exactly ‘like the other kids’. It has created a situation where I find myself with the company of either myself or my family most nights.” Across from him, Leonard watched quietly as he spoke. “My mother has been rather insistent that I ‘get out and make friends’ despite my insistence that I am perfectly content with simply the company of her and my siblings.” Spock could feel the back of his neck warming up with shame as he spoke and took a breath, doing his best to ignore that it was slightly shuddering. “I met and believed that I had been befriended by the group of men I was with tonight and agreed to accompany them here.” He didn’t want to continue talking. Leonard knew the rest. “I can only hope this will finally disabuse my mother in her quest to expand my social circle as clearly I am best suited to being alone.” 

Spock looked down at his hands, barely visible in the dark, and resisted the urge to pick at his nail polish. Michael had worked very hard on them. He could feel Leonard’s eyes trained on him and wondered if he liked the feeling or not. He flicked his eyes to Leonard’s and didn’t see the normal look of confused pity, the one Spock was often given when he explained his situation, the one that said ‘you’re so brave and strong for being where you are’, the thinly veiled pity. Spock wasn’t sure why, but he thought that behind the white contacts and skeleton paint Leonard might know exactly what he was talking about. 

Leonard smiled. “I’ll tell you what my mama told me the day I came home cryin’ because someone called me a name I ain’t gonna repeat.” Spock watched him reach up and then stop and let his hand fall back to his side. “‘Honey there ain’t a damn thing wrong with bein’ different, the only wrong people here are the ones who told you there was somethin’ to be ashamed of for not bein’ just like them. You just keep being yourself and you’ll find your people and you’ll be just fine.’” Then he did reach up and pat the side of Spock’s face, almost like a reflex. Spock found he didn’t mind the touch. “And then she kissed me on the head and said she and my dad would love me no matter who I brought home to dinner but I don’t think that applies to your situation.”

Spock snorted out a startled laugh before he could stop himself and was about to apologize when the lights came on and it was suddenly so bright his head hurt. 

“Quittin’ time, boys and girls!” a voice called through the barn and Spock opened his eyes to Leonard saying “Thank fuck!” and peeling off his black skull cap and… oh. 

Leonard smiled at him and shooed him out of the coffin. Spock did as he was directed and watched as Leonard stretched like a cat. Hands over his head, back arched, eyes closed. He rolled back off his toes and stretched his neck before opening his still-white eyes and bounced a few times. 

“Jesus that thing is sweaty,” Leonard announced, running a hand through his hair which stuck straight up and sweat smeared the paint around his forehead. 

Spock should not be watching so closely. 

“Yeah, I know.” 

Spock startled slightly, realizing that Leonard must have been watching him watch him. “I’ll get this shit off before I drive you home.” 

Spock didn’t quite know what to say next, so he simply nodded and Leonard fixed him with a smile. Spock raised an eyebrow and Leonard smiled wider. 

“I didn’t notice the makeup or the costume before,” he said. “You look cute.” 

Before Spock could even formulate a reply, someone was yelling “BONES!” and shooting into the room to tackle Leonard. 

However, much to Spock’s surprise, Leonard compensated for the human crashing into him and adjusted to not just stay up but  _ pick the person up _ .

“Good to see you too, Jim.” Leonard grunted. 

Ah. 

The not-spouse. 

“Didja hear the last pack of teens? I think I made one of the guys piss himself, he was so scared! Janice said he had been tryna feel up one of the girls in his group so I was like ‘uh uh, bud’ and when I dropped the arm on him he screamed so loud it-- hey I don’t know you!” 

And just like that, Jim was out of Leonard’s arms and circling Spock like a curious dog. 

“Jesus, Jim, you don’t gotta go sniffin’ him, come on.” Leonard shot Spock an apologetic look. Spock was unsure how to respond as Jim finally came to stand in front of him, his hazel eyes excited and intense. 

“Hi,” he finally said, holding out his hand. “I’m Jim, Bones’ best friend and roommate.” 

Spock took his hand. “I am Spock.” He had no follow up, he realized. Not sure if he was quite a ‘friend’. 

Jim shook his hand enthusiastically. “Usually I’m the one picking up strays. Bones is real picky so he must like you.” 

It was truly incredible that Jim had said just over a dozen words and Spock was so very curious about so many of them. “Bones?” he asked, Jim had now used the name several times and Spock wanted to know more. Was it in reference to Leonard’s costume? Simply a coincidence? Or a choice made based around the nickname? 

“Bones!” Jim chriped. “Leonard here is gonna be a sawbones, and I think he’s more of a ‘Bones’ than a ‘Leonard’ anyway, don’t you?” 

Spock turned to look at Leonard; it was easier to see him raise his eyebrow now that all the lights were on. “I am unsure of how to answer the question as I have only seen him in this state.” 

Jim threw his head back and laughed a loud booming laugh that almost made Spock want to join in. 

“Oh Bones, I love him!” 

“Yeah, thought you might,” Leonard said with an eye roll. “Now come on and let’s get to the dressing room so I can get him home.” 

Jim whistled and started walking, Spock falling into step beside him. “Taking you home and everything? Must have been a hell of a first date, he doesn’t let just anyone in that rusty old truck of his.” 

“First date?” Spock asked, suddenly nervous. They had arrived in the dressing room, which was filled with other people in and out of costumes. Leonard disappeared behind a door and Jim followed along behind him, leaving Spock alone. 

First date? Was this a first date? He hadn’t been on a date in… quite a while. T’Pring was his last steady partner- before he knew he was not very interested in women- and that had ended… strangely. They had talked again when she had broken it off with Stonn, an unspoken understanding that, while they had drastically different tastes, they were still allies. He’d been happy to hear she was with Christine now; they had always seemed a good match. 

Spock was secure in his sexuality: he knew he liked men, his family was as supportive as was expected, meaning that his brother and sister and mother were supportive and his father continued to pretend he did not exist. It was not an issue of bigotry that kept him from dating: it was something close to the reason he didn’t have any friends. Dating simply wasn’t something he was equipped for. 

He wondered… if perhaps with the right partner… 

“Fuck me that feels better!”

Spock’s eyes grew wide as the man he had been stuck in a coffin with all night walked out of the dressing room. 

He was very much not a skeleton. 

Out of his costume and in something that looked much more comfortable- a thick flannel shirt and worn jeans- he would have looked like any person on campus, someone Spock might pass by without a second thought. Were it not for the patches of paint and the familiar voice Spock would never connect this gorgeous man to the skeleton he had been pressed against all night. The patches of skin Spock could see underneath the makeup were  _ tan _ , like even in the cool fall weather Leonard’s skin held the sun. His hair was brown in the lights of the barn, still sticking straight up, sweaty and thick with paint- it would be funny if Spock wasn’t too busy wondering what it felt like _. _ And his eyes…still ringed with black face paint, Leonard should have looked like a raccoon, but Spock could only see a dashing highwayman with a bright blue stare. 

“Bet you’re wishin’ you’d ended up in Jim’s coffin now, huh?” Leonard joked, clearly missing the way Spock was gazing at him. “He’s a good deal better lookin’ under all that zombie makeup than I am.” Spock wanted to disagree but was stopped short watching him pull out a cigarette and light it. 

“That’s a bad habit,” he said instead, choosing to echo his mother instead of ask Leonard if he was aware he was exceedingly handsome. 

Leonard stopped mid puff, looking at Spock with a surprised smile. He pulled the smoke out of his mouth and considered it for a moment. What happened next Spock was sure would keep him awake at night. Leonard reached out, resting a hand on Spock’s shoulder, Spock thought for a moment he was going to say ‘no’ with a puff of smoke, a favorite response from his older brother. Instead Spock realized he was being used for balance as Leonard lifted his right foot, took the cigarette from his mouth, and put it out on the heel of his boot. Spock felt a shiver zing up his spine. 

“Alright, Spock.” Leonard said with a grin, letting go of Spock’s shoulder and tucking the unlit cigarette behind his ear. “You ready?” 


End file.
